By Chris Churchill Business writer

Published 1:00 am, Saturday, August 8, 2009

ALBANY — Those hoping for private-sector development at Harriman State Office Campus will have to wait, but the state is bolstering its presence there.

A $40 million food lab for the Department of Agriculture and Markets is now slated to be built on a parking lot at the campus' northeast corner. The 70,000-square-foot building will house about 50 state workers, including the state metrology lab.

The project seems a departure from the 2006 master plan for the 330-acre campus, which called for lessening the state government presence at the site while turning it into a mixed-used, truly urban neighborhood of high-tech companies, small stores, restaurants and residences.

In fact, the state last year asked development companies to submit plans for the campus, generating proposals from local firms — the Howard Cos. of Colonie and Columbia Development Cos. of Albany — teaming with deep-pocketed national companies.

Both firms have said they are willing and ready to build as soon as the state allows. But the state has postponed approval of either proposal, to the frustration of those who want to see quick action at the campus.

John Egan, commissioner of the Office of General Services, which oversees the state's real estate holdings, said the proposals remain "on the table" but said they "haven't energized us" and may not be compatible with a focus on high technology and development.

"A lot of people would like to come here and build an office building. But we don't need another office building," Egan said Friday. "A lot of people would like to build a hotel. But we don't need another hotel."

Egan said the planned food lab would be a catalyst for the type of high-tech and research development the state says it wants at Harriman.

"That's the real purpose of doing it here," he said.

Mayor Jerry Jennings, a frequent critic of the delays at Harriman, attended the Friday morning announcement of the lab, and called it "the right thing to do," particularly because prior proposals had the facility leaving the city.

In an interview after the announcement, Jennings called for the "state to get out of the way" and let private developers take a shot at Harriman. He said he didn't know whether the state had scrapped its prior development concept.

The three-story laboratory will be located about 100 yards from the existing laboratory. State officials on Friday said the lab will enhance the state's food testing and safety programs and allow for better responses to food-related emergencies.

A rendering of the structure shows what appears to be a sleek glass and steel structure, designed in the modern style that dominates most of the campus.

In 2006, then-Gov. George Pataki said the lab would be built in Geneva, in the Finger Lakes region, but state officials abandoned that plan when workers said they didn't want to move.

The project, which is expected to break ground next summer, comes amid a budget crisis that has severely crimped state spending. But Patrick Hooker, commissioner of the agriculture department, said the state appropriated funds for the project years ago.

He defended the spending, saying the lab protects the health and welfare of all New Yorkers.

Chris Churchill can be reached at 454-5442 or by e-mail at cchurchill@timesunion.com.